Wildflower Walk

Doggo and I ran the trail camera trapline after chores. And with a gentle rain falling decided to take a walk along one of the newly-cleared trails. 

 

Seriously, who doesn’t like to take a walk in the rain with their girlfriend?

 

Anyway, I wanted to take some photos of my observations from atop the tractor yesterday of what was blooming in our prairie.  Prairie species are not indigenous to the peninsula as prior to European settlement the landscape was boreal forest.  Nevertheless, since much was cleared for farming planting deeply-rooted native grasses and forbs enhances the wildlife benefits.  

 

ID is included with each image and right-click for a closer look.

 

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)

 

Blue vervain (Verbena hastata)

 

Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum)

 

Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum)  It's almost an 8-footer!

 

Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)  I planted these along the creek decades ago. Having reached maturity we’ve been getting acorns recently. 

Canada Tick Trefoil (Desmodium canadense)

Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) 

A forest of Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum)

False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)  Doggo and I had to brave the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) to take this photo.  

 Nodding onion (Allium cernuum)  A wild edible

Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)  It’s as tall as me! 

 

Summer Blooms

From our early walk this morning it was already 75F and forecast  to rise into the mid to low 80s. Whew!   We ran the trail camera trapline too so there are more critters to follow,  

There was also silky dogwood - Cornus amomum. 

 
This deciduous shrub has an open-rounded form and features tiny yellowish-white flowers in flat-topped clusters in late spring to early summer, followed by attractive berry-like drupes that ripen from white to blue in late summer.

It is typically found in moist lowland areas, such as swamp borders, floodplains, and along streams and ponds. 

The berries are edible for birds and wildlife. The berries can be used in teas or other preparations when ripe but are otherwise toxic to people. 

Lots more blooming in the pollinator habitat; and monarch butterflies, pardon the pun, are king.

Stay cool

 

Ruby Tuesday

This field golden retriever joined came home to live with us on a Tuesday.  Hence her name.

Anyway, here's a photo dump from the trail cameras...

  

More Spring Color

We've been checking almost daily; finally, from our morning walk yesterday there was this.

 

Huzzah! 

Meet Iris Versicolor -commonly known as Blue Flag Iris or Northern Iris, Harlequin Blue Flag, Larger Blue Flag, Poison Flag, plus other variations of these names.  

Habitats include wet prairies, along rivers, wet woodlands, swamps, edges of ponds and streams and other low-lying areas along rail lines and roadsides.  It likes wet feet - and it grows naturally along the banks of Silver Creek and in low woodland habitat.  A beautiful and delicate wildflower it propagates by means of an underground rhizome.  Native cultures used the root for medicinal purposes.

In Greek mythology Iris is a personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods - thus explaining the wide range of colors of this member of the iris family.

 

Close call

When we go for our walk as a general rule I am accompanied by two sidekicks; my four-legged red golden retriever and one on my hip.

From yesterday morning there was this. 

 
In pretty short order doggo was put on a down stay; and I steadied my sidearm against the trunk of an oak. 

Mr. Browning Buck Mark barked twice.

Stinky encounter (and theoretically a bad start to the day) averted. 

No skunks were hurt in the encounter.

Close call.... 

Swamp Collie

It's a good thing that doggo likes water as there's no shortage of it around here.  Even though the the extraordinary high waters of the April 14-15 flooding have largely receded, standing water in the form of large muddy puddles remain in the trails for four-legged friend to splash-through and wallow-in.  Wallow, you say?  Yes, just like a pig.  I'm going to take a picture before too long so nobody accuses me of being a liar. 

Anyway, there are plenty of trail camera captures of our wet and muddy sweetheart; and judging from the smile on her face you get my drift.

Swamp Collie.... 

 

May Astronomy

In May there are two full moons; the one tomorrow on May 1st and the second on Sunday, May 31st.  When you score two full moons in a single month the second is referred-to as a Blue Moon. 

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac - we use full moon names that were used during Native American and Colonial times to help track the seasons.  This practice is traced to the Algonquin tribes who lived in the same areas as the Colonists.    

May’s first full Moon is known as the Flower Moon.  It signifies the wildflowers that bloom in May.  This includes wild iris, sundrops, marsh marigold, violets and more that are found around here. 

The month of May also marked a period of increased fertility and the warming days that made it safer to bear young.  For that reason it is sometimes called the Mother’s Moon.  Other names include the Corn Planting Moon, Leaf Budding Moon, Frog Moon and Milk Moon.  

From our walk only a couple of days ago there was this.

Caltha Palustris - the Marsh Marigold - a member of the buttercup family (not a marigold) and a wild flower found in bottomlands, marshes, fens and wet woodlands  this time of year.  

Fingers-crossed for clear viewing conditions Friday and Saturday evening.

Spring Is Sprung and Mud is Made

I am told that it is meteorological spring here; where I live half-way between the equator and the North Pole.

In the Northern Hemisphere this is defined as the three-month period of March, April and May - commencing on March 1 and ending on May 31.  It is used by meteorologists and climatologists to align seasons with annual temperature cycles and to simplify the collection of weather data instead of using the varying dates of the astronomical equinox like the rest of us nerdy stargazers do.  But I digress.

What I know for sure is that when you score a 60F day you take your canine sidekick out for a run and let her explore the melting edges of the ice-covered pond and creek.

For sure it is Mud Season after all...  

 

 

The Red Rocket

Sunny with the temperature reaching a scorching high of 28F yesterday. 

Positively tropical!

 

Doggo and I ran the trail camera trap line; consequently she got a minimum 1 mile round-trip run under her collar.    Poor Pupper has had a bad case of cabin fever during the recent polar vortex with brief outside time to perform her business and occasionally get a quick dose of the zoomies.  

In case you’re wondering about all of the tracks in the snow; none of those belong to anyone in the household. We’ve been home bound for about a week on account of the extreme cold. Some of those trails look like woodland superhighways.  And they’re all critter tracks.  Mostly whitetail but also raccoon, possum, turkey, fox, weasel and coyote. Maybe a ditch tiger too. 

You’ll note Ruby taking a deliberate slide at the 28 second mark in the video. Not much escapes her nose and that’s to check some fresh coyote spoor. 

The video ends with big, fresh canine turd.  Didn’t look wild. Maybe from a local trailing hound?

Anyway, I’ve had an unusual spate of technical fails on the cameras lately. Will be interesting to see if they’ve been debugged and what, if anything, we got pics of. 

Stay-tuned….

Rare Walk In The Woods

From a day it wasn't single digit or below zero temps.

Dang, it's been colder than (fill in the blank)..... 

 

The Red Rocket

Yesterday I shared my conviction that my dog came to our household factory-equipped with an on-off switch.

When the switch is in the OFF position she's at rest.

When the switch is in the ON position she's tearing around the landscape at full-tilt whether on the hunt or at play.

As a matter of fact, on the subject of an object happens to be in motion, she has raised Newton's Law of Inertia to art form.... 

 

Pre-Rut

 

Two weeks ago we found our first deer rub; predictably a sacrificial tamarack sapling. While out for our daily walk yesterday Ruby and I found our first scrape.

 

If you encounter a whiff of deer pee redolent in the autumn air look carefully beneath any shoulder height tree branches close by. You may locate a bare patch of dirt in the turf that is trampled with deer hoof prints. This is called a scrape. 

 

 

Bucks create scrapes by using their hoofs to dig at the ground. Once the soil is stirred up, they urinate on the scrape. Bucks don’t pee the way we do. We try to keep it off of us. Bucks actually try to pee on their own hind legs. The object is to hit their tarsal glands in an effort to leave their scent on the scrape. Every deer has its own unique bouquet and the tarsal glands hold concentrated amounts of that spoor. 

 

 

About the licking branch - a tree branch will hang above the cleared-out soil. Bucks will rub their forehead glands on it and will also lick it with their tongue to deposit their scent on it.

 

The earliest of rubs and scrapes that begin to appear in October are few and far between and used principally to communicate as bucks begin to leave their bachelor groups and stake-out their territory. It is akin to posting a no trespassing sign on a property line. 

 

Scrapes serve much the same function in the whitetail world as a mailbox post or a fire hydrant does for dogs. Scrapes are meant to show dominance over a territory but are normally used by more than one buck.

 

Very soon the scrape will be used to communicate breeding readiness.

Ruby Time

From the trail camera circuit here's a tranche of red golden retriever selfies.  Some of me too.

Autumn Pollinators

I haven't spied a monarch butterfly in awhile.

From our walk there were bumblebees and viceroy butterflies in abundance. 

 

Fall Fireworks

Monday marked the astronomical arrival of fall.

From our walk the other day the asters have exploded like fireworks.

 

Further evidence of autumn....